Chapter 35: Epilogue
"Hello, love," Edward crooned from behind me, walking into the kitchen from the studio at our home just outside of Forks. He slid his arms around my waist, pulling me tight against the front of his body.
I'd come into the kitchen to get a glass of water and ended up standing in front of the huge window that made up most of the back wall. I was lost in thought admiring the incredible view of wildflowers that cheerfully blanketed the back yard. They were a beautiful spectrum of color until they disappeared in the ferns and underbrush of the dense forest, a glimpse of the stream running through it all not quite visible from the house.
"You look happy," he noted with a smile in his voice as he rested his cheek against mine, looking at the view with me.
I sank back against Edward's chest as he dipped his head, pressing his scruffy cheek against mine. I hummed contently.
"I'm enjoying the scenery," I commented. "I'm glad to be back."
"Agreed. Though it's more particularly about the part where I get a solid block of time with you," he admitted. "That film took a miserably long time to shoot," he nibbled my neck, his stubble lightly scratching my skin.
"I know." I sighed. "I was glad for the job Siobhan got me while you were filming, and I know it's not her job to cater to me, but I really wish she would throw me things that keep me in your general vicinity if not on set with you. Or maybe at least ones that don't keep me away from you the entire time you film. I felt almost like a prisoner in L.A. not being able to escape to see you. I don't do well apart from you for that long."
He hummed in ascent, kissing my shoulder. "Me neither."
"I guess it is my fault for not verifying the timeline of the teaching job before accepting it," I admitted. "But Siobhan hadn't ever thrown such a long stint at me before, or one that kept me from you the whole time you were away. I didn't think to check. I'll know better from now on."
"Good," he said, breathing a laugh into my skin. Then he looked back out the window with me. "Happy anniversary, by the way."
"Anniversary?" I asked, momentarily thrown. My eyebrows puckered in confusion. We were married in December.
"It's only been eight years, love." He sounded disappointed. "You've forgotten already?"
I thought for a beat then smiled, realizing. "Ah yes, New York," I said simply.
"Yes," he replied approvingly, kissing my temple and tightening his hold around me. "New York."
I sighed. We stood in silence for a moment letting the memories flood our minds.
"But wait, tomorrow is the anniversary of when we first met," I corrected him, realizing the exact date. "Eye-fucking across a room doesn't really count as meeting," I teased.
"Are you serious? You're hurting my feelings here, Bella." I peered up at him to gauge his seriousness.
"I mean, it was far more intimate and memorable than an exchange of names and words; I'll give you that," I conceded and hummed, recalling the intensity. My body reacted to the thrill of the memory, arousal coursed through me like a live wire.
"That it was," he agreed, his voice husky with the memory. A beat later he added, "We met, though. True it wasn't really an official meeting, but still…"
I took a sip of my water as I thought, trying to tear my mind from the memory of the thrill of his eyes boring through mine that first time.
"It seems your memory has deteriorated," he said, "but I will say your swallowing abilities have vastly improved," he said casually, but a smile evident in his voice.
My body took an involuntary intake of breath at the recollection. Of course that was precisely when the gulp of water was mid-swallow and I choked, unsuccessfully keeping it in my mouth. Water sprayed from my mouth, splattering the window, as I fought my body's reaction to clear my airway. I pulled myself from his arms and turned to the sink, spitting water from my mouth, coughing and choking loudly. I let go of the glass too soon, it dropping the small distance with a crack so loud I was surprised I didn't break the glass. Edward caught it, preventing it from spilling everywhere. He chuckled, patting my back as I leaned over the sink trying to regain control of my body.
"I stand corrected," he said with a chuckle in my ear. "You'd been doing so well lately," he added teasing.
My choking mostly under control, I began to laugh, standing upright facing him. "Okay, so technically we first met—unofficially—then. Kind of," I conceded as I tried to suppress a couple more coughs. "I guess I had been blocking that particularly mortifying experience."
"Oh, I could never forget that," he breathed a laugh, faint smile lines were starting to spout on his face, fanning the sides of his eyes in his amusement, momentarily distracting me. I marveled at how they somehow made him look sexier. Impossibly, the years had only improved him. "It's one of my favorite memories because it never fails to cheer me."
I refocused my attention and rolled my eyes, but my body forced out another set of choking coughs I tried to stifle, ruining the effect.
He breathed a laugh, sliding his finger along my temple, tucking my hair behind my ear, then pulled me into his arms.
"Maybe you need some more practice. I could help you with that, if you'd like," he offered.
I tipped my chin up, giving me a perfect view of his jaw, covered in a short layer of stubble. I stretched my neck, and playfully bit at it. "You're hilarious," I replied dryly.
The driveway alarm went off, sounding Demetri and Felix's exit, who had been at our place since we'd returned the other day, working on music with Edward. Rules of Caius was no longer—Caius had become too out of control, but the two had formed another and continued to work with Edward frequently for their music. They were off to Seattle to meet up with the rest of their new band, who weren't privy to Edward's involvement, so they could learn the new material.
Alone at last. I smiled to myself.
"Maybe later," I suggested. "I kind of had something else in mind." Then I kissed him deeply.
"Don't start something you have no intention on following through on," Edward warned teasingly, breaking the kiss but holding me tighter to him.
"On the contrary," I grinned against his jaw, "I have every intention on following through."
Edward let out a sound that was halfway between a moan and a growl. "You'll be the death of me. I swear you will."
"Oh, but what a way to go!" I laughed into his neck. "No one will be here for a while…" I looked up at him with playful anticipation. Our families were coming over to welcome us back to Washington, but they weren't due to arrive for at least another half hour.
"Still as insatiable as the day we met," Edward chided, meeting my lips.
"Not quite," I corrected, knowing I was no longer so tightly wound that I could come after two seconds of his touch. It took some more time and effort now, but that also meant Edward touching me longer, which I was all for—and he didn't seem to mind that at all either. Though it was true I still wanted him with abandon. "Would you rather I became immune to your charms over the years?" I challenged with a smile, before kissing him again.
"Never," he vowed, his eyes locked intensely with mine.
Edward's hands slid to my hips, his thumbs rubbing circles seductively before he pulled open my jeans and yanked my underwear to the floor in a quick swoop. Then he picked me up as if I weighed nothing and perched me on the edge of the counter; the cold of the counter to my skin causing a small bit of breath to let out in the shock of it. I freed one foot from my underwear and jeans. I tugged off his shirt and tossed it on the floor, and Edward quickly did the same to mine. Edward's pants dropped to the floor and he returned to me. I wrapped my legs around him in greeting. He slid one hand around my waist possessively and held my shoulders with the other, pulling me soundly against him. He kissed me with passion, turning my breath erratic. He pulled his hips back, sliding his hand from my waist to my sex. Teasing. Readying. After seconds, I responded impatiently, and he breathed a laugh against my lips, but complied with my unspoken request, pulling his hand away, pressing his hips back to me.
Just then, the sound of a hasty knock followed immediately by a commotion of people entering through the front door made us both start and my body exchange my heady desire with a spike of panic-induced adrenaline.
"Bells?" Jacob's voice boomed. "Edward?"
Gah! I thought as I jumped down clumsily, my hand slipping on a guitar pick left there, which caused me to knock a butter knife off the counter to the floor, crashing loudly. Edward turned himself away from the entry as he hastily pulled up his pants and laughed at my panicked expression as he calmly fastened his jeans. I quickly thrust my foot into the other side of my underwear and jeans and yanked them back in place with several hasty hops, grateful I had still had one foot inside them.
Shit!
Where the hell did Edward toss my shirt? And why the hell didn't the driveway alarm go off?! I could hear Jacob and Leah's voices mixed with the babble of their kids' in the entry.
Edward, jeans back in place, was righting himself after retrieving both shirts from the floor, handing mine to me. I felt annoyed by his very relaxed and amused expression as he effortlessly slipped his shirt over his head while I unsuccessfully tried to figure out which way was the right direction for mine.
Shit, shit, shit!
"Hello?" Jacob called again.
"Hold on! Just a second!" I shouted, my voice trembling, hoping to deter them from making their way into the house in search of us.
I'd never had so much trouble with a shirt in my life. It felt like someone had just handed over a mixed-up Rubik's Cube and told me I had ten seconds to solve it before it exploded.
"What—?" Jacob came into view just as Edward was straightening his shirt down over his torso, while I had just turned my shirt inside out, thinking it already had been.
I let out a groan of aggravation, wondering how the shirt managed to perform such a devious trick on me. At least my bra had still been on.
"Aw, come on!" Jake complained, holding his son Sam, as he laid eyes on us. He immediately covered his son's eyes—though Edward already was clothed and I was every bit as covered as I would have been if I were wearing jeans and a swim suit top—and doubled-back out of sight. I rolled my eyes at his dramatics. "You really couldn't stop defiling my sister for five minutes?" he called to Edward from the other room. "You knew we were here! You heard us coming up the drive!"
"I have never defiled your sister," Edward corrected. "But to your point, no." He chuckled. "I really don't think I could," he stated proudly with a smirk, taking my shirt from me and turning it right side out then handing it back. He picked up the butter knife from the floor and set it in the sink, slipped the guitar pick into his pocket, and washed his hands.
"Daddy? Why did Bewa not have a shirt on? Did she losed it?" I heard Sam ask Jake. Apparently, Jake wasn't able to cover his son's eyes fast enough. "I help her finded it! I good at help'n! Right, Daddy?"
I heard Jacob groan. "Yeah, kiddo, you're a great helper, but Aunt Bella can find it on her own."
Leah, still in the other room with their daughter Emily, let out a loud laugh realizing what was going on.
"That's all right, Sam," Edward called, drying his hands; his voice full of humor as he gave my lips a peck and walked out of the kitchen. "I already helped Auntie Bella find her shirt. She'll have it on in just a minute."
"How she losed her shirt, Unka Eward?" Sam asked, and I knew his little nearly four-year-old face would be scrunched in bewilderment.
But before anyone could answer him, I shoved my arms and head through the shirt holes only to find I'd put it on backwards, and let out a loud, aggravated growl.
This shirt had it in for me. I swore it did.
"I think she still need help, Unka Eward," Sam instructed, peeking in from the living room.
I pulled my arms out of the sleeves and twisted the shirt around my neck the right way.
"Hello, Emily!" Edward cooed to our eighteen-month-old niece, ruffling Sam's hair as he passed him. "Come here, sweetheart. Hi, Leah," he added.
"Thanks," Leah said, sounding grateful for the freeing of her hands. "Hey, Edward. Having a little pre-party fun?"
"Maybe just a little," he admitted. Then to Emily, "Should we go see if your Aunt Bella needs more help dressing herself?" Edward continued to coo. "I think you can do it better than she does already. Can't you?"
Emily giggled. I could hear Leah's laugh in tandem.
The shirt, right side out, facing the right direction, I pushed my arms through the correct holes.
Finally!
I pulled my hair out of my shirt, raked my fingers through my hair, and did a quick self-assessment as I walked out of the kitchen.
"Real funny, Edward," I called, rounding the corner into view of the entry. My cheeks blazingly warm from a mixture of embarrassment and effort. I was sweating from the adrenaline I could feel starting to drain from my body.
"You were having more than a little trouble, love," Edward pointed out, half-heartedly trying—and failing—to hold back a smirk, with happy-faced Emily settled in his arms who squealed excitedly when she saw me.
I rolled my eyes at him and tried to steal my niece from Edward's arms. Her grin immediately turned to a scowl. She turned herself away, burying her face in the crook of Edward's neck, laying her head on Edward's shoulder, clutched him for dear life.
"Yeah, I don't blame you, Emily," I said, kissing her cheek, patting her back. "I wouldn't trade him for anyone else either." Then I winked at Edward and kissed his lips. "Hey, Chief. Hey, Leah."
"Hey, yourself," Jacob said. "You think having an alarm on your driveway would prevent situations like that from happening," he pointed out. "Did you even wait for your friends we met at the end of the driveway to leave the house first? Or was your exhibitionism what chased them out of here?"
"You're early," I chastised, feeling my cheeks still flushed. "And I did hear the alarm, but only once, after Dem and Felix left. I didn't know that you were arriving. You must have crossed paths at the alarm." My family was aware Edward had a serious love of music and could play many instruments. They also knew he and Emmett were friends with Demetri and Felix, but they still didn't know after all these years that Edward had written nearly all of Rules of Caius' songs, nor that he had written any of the songs other artists had released. Outside of Edward's family, only Rose knew the secret of Edward's musical writing career.
"Maybe you should install a second one," Jacob suggested.
I rolled my eyes.
"You're the one who walked right in," I stated.
"You're the one who left the door unlocked," he pointed out.
"I couldn't delay Jake any longer," Leah interjected.
"I missed you." He shrugged, failing in his attempt to sound indifferent. "It's good to see you. You know, now that you're fully clothed and all," he teased.
"Good to see you too, Jacob," I said, hugging him. "What's with the hair?" I asked when he released me from his bear-like squeeze and walked back into the kitchen. "It looks…normal," I made a face. It was true, his face was cleanly shaved and his hair cropped short. No designs, no funky style, no imaginative facial hair. It was so not Jacob.
"I thought I'd try it; see why everyone else does it all the time."
"And what's the verdict?"
"Overrated," he decreed decidedly. "How was California?"
"Overrated," I mimicked his cavalier tone, then smiled. "No, California was nice. I lucked out and had a great group of kids these past few months."
"Good. Glad you're back, though," he said. "Is everyone able to make it?" He handed me over a platter of food they had brought.
"Yeah," I said, setting the dish of appetizers on the center island. I opened the fridge and began pulling out the other snack food to munch on until it was time to eat the meal. "Jess said she, Mike, and the kids would be a little late."
"Shocking." He laughed rolling his eyes.
"But everyone else should be arriving in about a half an hour or so."
Jake snorted. "Do you maybe need to wash the counter first, Bells? Or was that left free of your escapades?"
"The counter was unharmed," I lied, enjoying the fact I sounded rather convincing. "It's not like we got quite that far," I mumbled grudgingly under my breath, feeling cheated at the fact we had been interrupted. "But here, I'll give you some piece of mind and rewash it to make you feel better." I grabbed a dishrag, poured some soap, and let the warm water saturate it, ringing it out a few times to disperse the suds, then thoroughly cleaned the counter.
"Where are your kids?" Jake asked, popping a chip into his mouth as I took the rag into the laundry room around the corner.
"Mom and Dad's," I explained, walking back into the room. "Dad insisted we drop them off so we could get settled and ready for everyone coming over today. He knew I was running to Port Angeles this afternoon to pick up the food from the caterer and that Edward had Dem and Felix over. He said it was to help me out—which I'm sure it partly was—but really, I think he and Mom just missed them and couldn't wait for tonight to see them where they would need to share them with everyone else."
"Well, that explains the show."
I stuck my tongue out at him and Edward chuckled at our exchange.
My parents arrived forty minutes later with the kids.
"Daddyyyyyy!" EJ shouted with all the elation of a three-year-old. His green eyes lit up catching sight of Edward as my dad walked through the door with him in his arms.
Dad set him down and EJ ran a beeline to Edward who crouched down to catch him. EJ crashed ungracefully against him, throwing his arms around Edward's neck. He was a daddy's boy and I understood—at least to an extent—Rosalie's complaints all those years ago with Henry being a daddy's boy. I did wish he'd want his mom now and then too.
"Hey there, little man!" Edward replied, wrapping his arms around him and stood, making growling noises, kissing into his neck, making him squeal and giggle in delight. EJ had Edward's green eyes and his unruly hair except it was light brown like mine had been at his age.
"Hey, Dad," I greeted and hugged my father—EJ too distracted by tickled laughter to notice me at present.
"Good to see you, Bells," he said, and squeezed tighter for a moment before releasing me.
My dad continued into the house, greeting the others as I held the door. My mom glanced up and smiled, grabbing the door as well, but returned her gaze to my daughter. Carlie's five-year-old brown eyes lit up as she informed her of all the facts on butterflies she could recall from her newest favorite book. My mom nodded, and mmm-hmmed with a patient smile. It must not have been the first time Carlie had imparted this information to her. I smiled.
"Hi, Mommy!" Carlie greeted enthusiastically, her long, bronze curls bouncing in the action as she wrapped her arms around me.
"I missed you, Carlie," I replied, breaking the hug to kiss the crown of her head.
"Me too, Mommy," she said, beaming up and pressing her chin to me, then loped off into the house.
"Hi, sweetie," my mom said to me with a hug.
Pretty soon the house was buzzing with people and conversations as it did when we had everyone over; nearly thirty people got a bit chaotic. I was grateful for Esme opening up the floorplan on the main level when she remodeled the home because the chaos of our parents, siblings, and their families together was overwhelming. It was also good the day was nice and we had the large deck to spill out to.
"How's it going?" I asked Rosalie as I cuddled baby Tia who was napping on my chest.
I'd desperately wanted to talk to Rose since she'd gotten there and was glad to have stolen a moment alone with her. I pulled her along with me to a quiet sitting area I liked to read in after I had finally finagled the baby away from everyone else. Alice and Jasper hadn't returned after putting their two-year-old daughter Sasha down for a nap. I was pretty sure they took the opportunity of the family's enchantment with Tia to take a nap themselves. They had looked pretty worn out. Tia wasn't sleeping well at night.
After a few years of trying for a baby, Alice and Jasper had decided to adopt. They had found out their chances weren't impossible, but not great. In lieu of putting themselves through rigorous, stressful means to get pregnant like IVF, they opted to adopt. They had finalized their adoption of Sasha when Alice had gotten pregnant. They had just welcomed their daughter Tia a few weeks ago.
Rose shrugged. Uh-oh. That wasn't reassuring.
She read my concerned scrutiny.
"No, it's actually really good," she assured me.
I flashed a doubtful look.
"It is. That's the problem. He's convinced me to give it another shot—officially."
Rosalie and Emmett were great together, but they had a harder time with the time apart more than Edward and I did because of circumstances, but she knew I understood that particular struggle well. Things weren't always easy as Edward predicted in the first days of our relationship. We'd had some rough times. She knew this because she tried as best as she could to help me through them while dealing with her own struggles.
Admittedly, there was even a while there that I had doubts Edward and I would make it. After EJ's early arrival, Edward had to finish his interview sets he missed that had been rescheduled. I had reassured Edward about missing EJ's birth—something I knew to this day upset him. He hated not being there for the birth of his child and not there for me with it being such a scary ordeal. I'd been able to rally through that tolerably, but then it felt he'd only just returned when he had to leave to shoot a series in Ireland.
Postpartum depression—though I hadn't realized that was what it was at the time—hit me like a title wave. I cried. A lot. I felt ugly and fat in my freshly post-baby body. I was sleep-deprived, my emotions frayed. I felt abandoned and alone with Edward in Ireland, which left me angry and resentful toward him. And then I let unfounded rumors of Edward and a castmate rattle me—something not like me. James hadn't resurfaced again, but over the years, Tanya had tried to sabotage us again more than once. It never fazed me having become so confident in my relationship with Edward; her claims were ludicrous and made me feel sad for her. Of course, there were always this story or that claiming or speculating one thing or another, but I knew better than to pay attention to them. But this time…this time it gnawed fiercely at me that he was half a world away with a beautiful woman while I was feeling not so great about me. It spurred arguments with Edward when we spoke because I desperately wanted him to give me the impossible: him at home now. When he'd tell me he couldn't give that, it made me react irrationally, lashing out at him with tears and anger. I knew my overwhelming emotions and his being so far away made him feel helpless, which in effect he was—there was nothing he could do from there.
We fought so much I could feel I was driving him away as our conversations became tenser. I was a wreck knowing I was being unreasonable, but I couldn't stop feeling or acting the way I did. It got really bad.
After I got onto medication to combat the postpartum depression, and Edward returned, my sanity seemed to return, as well. With my emotions not suffocating me in an overwhelming abyss, we were able to work on repairing us. Things got better, but I could see the concern in his eyes before he left the next time, worrying things would get rocky again. I all but kicked him out of the house, insisting I'd be fine. And I was. I was in a healthier place again.
Since then, though, he decided not to return to a breakneck pace with film after film he'd been keeping up until EJ arrived, wanting to spend less time away from the kids and me. Something I was immensely grateful for. I knew my bout of postpartum frightened him as much as it had me.
As for Rosalie and Emmett, they welcomed a son, Garrett, the summer following Edward's and my wedding. They got engaged a few months later and married shortly after that—though not so quick of a turnaround as Edward and I had. When Garrett was three, they welcomed their daughter, Vera. They were happy, mostly, but Emmett was gone a lot—on set, going to auditions, doing interviews, attending premieres, and doing publicity events. Rose couldn't travel with him much, nor was she able to move to L.A., as I had been able to for Edward. She and Emmett bought a place in Seattle, where she secured a job. Royce was in Seattle, also remarried, and it made things easier in regards to Henry. But with a full-time job and shared custody, she was tied down in a way I wasn't. I could accept or decline jobs so I could travel with Edward. I could be in L.A. when Edward was. Rose didn't have that option.
Emmett and Rosalie's relationship had more highs and lows than Edward's and mine, which pretty much was one big, near-constant high—postpartum withstanding. Emmett had a harder time slowing down on jobs than Edward did. That meant Rose was juggling a full-time job with three kids on her own frequently. While Carlisle and Esme were there to help, not living far, they worked, too.
I understood Rose's frustration; the times apart were hard, especially with kids. Emmett and Rose had recently been taking some time apart, though the only ones who knew that were Edward and me. Emmett had just wrapped a movie, but had gone to stay in their place in L.A. instead of heading back to Seattle, per request of Rosalie, with the pretense to the family that he had a string of auditions. He had been over to Edward's and my house a lot to talk to me since I was there working.
"Hey, Edward," I said smiling at his face on my phone as he called me from set. I was standing at the table doling out snacks.
"Hi,love," he returned. "How are you and the kids?"
"We're fine," I promised, turning the phone toward them so they could see one another. "Say 'hi' to Daddy."
"Hi, 'Daddy'," Emmett called from the kitchen while the kids chattered their hellos, smiles and waves as they began chomping away at their food.
"Emmett's over again?" he asked after hearing his reply.
I turned the phone toward Emmett in the kitchen who was chopping vegetables, helping me prepare supper.
Emmett waved the knife in his hand.
"Someone has to keep your wife happy while you're away," he said with a wide grin, wagging his eyebrows.
I turned the phone back to myself, rolling my eyes in tolerant amusement, and smiled.
"Do I need to be worried about you two?" Edward joked.
Emmett had been over a lot since he had returned to L.A. He'd been there every time Edward had called that last week.
My attention back on Edward, Emmett snuck up behind me and wrapped his arms tightly around mine, pinning the top of my arms. I jumped in surprise.
"Hmm," he mock-pondered in show, setting his chin on the juncture between my shoulder and neck, looking at Edward on my phone. "Intriguing idea." He paused for effect. "Now that you say it, Edward, maybe Bella and I should give it a 'spin'."
Edward's mouth formed a tight line, unamused by his brother's antics.
"What do you think, kids?" Emmett asked. "Should Uncle Emmett be your new daddy?"
Carlie rang with laughter and a resounding, "No!" that made it obvious she found the idea completely absurd.
EJ replied with a strong, angry, "No! You Uncle! You not my daddy!" He was very much a daddy's boy.
I sighed and shook my head at Emmett's teasing toward Edward. Then I reassured EJ his uncle was joking, but he continued to scowl.
"Not funny, Em," Edward said unsmiling, eyes narrowed in annoyance.
Emmett let out a booming laugh, enjoying himself thoroughly.
"I don't know," Emmett continued, pretending to consider it. "I bet it would fun," he suggested, turning his face toward me and letting out a playful growl that tickled my neck and made me squirm to get away from him.
"Emmett, knock it off," I warned him, swatting at him and missing, as he laughed heartily.
"Edward thinks your fun…" he continued as if to himself, then stopped as if debating. "No, better not," he said, as if thinking better of his suggestion. "She is awfully cute, but she's just too little for me. I think I'd only break her." He let go of me and shifted to the side, cocking his head and pursing his lips as if in consideration. "No offense, Spinner, but I just don't think you'd be able to handle me." He lifted a hand and held my chin with his finger and thumb in exaggerated adoration. "And I know how upset Edward gets when you break his toys."
Edward let out a growl, having had enough of his brother's messing around.
Emmett laughed and kissed the top of my head then went back to the kitchen.
"No, your pest of a brother," I continued, now that Emmett had had his fun, "has been here crying to me about Rosalie every night."
"Is nothing sacred, Spinner?" he protested, looking up from the vegetables he'd resumed cutting.
I smiled back at him unabashedly. If he could joke around and rile up Edward, he could take a small jibe from me.
After Edward and I ended our call, I joined Emmett in the kitchen. The two of us had gotten into something of a domestic habit in the last week. It didn't take long for Emmett to break the silence.
"I don't know what to do, Spinner," he said defeated, almost desperate, his jovial bravado from when Edward was on the phone gone. "I want to go see her and the kids, but she doesn't want me there. You don't think she's seeing anyone else, do you?"
His expression completely open and vulnerable in that moment, I couldn't help but throw my arms around him. Until then he had complained, asked about Rosalie, and asked vague advice, but hadn't completely let his guard down like that.
"No. She isn't. She still loves you. She doesn't want anyone else," I told him, pulling away from him.
"Then why did she tell me to stay away?" he wondered.
"I don't know," I admitted. "Maybe she just wanted you to have time to think about what you really want."
"I don't have to think about that. I know what I want," he said petulantly.
"Do you?"
"What the hell does that mean?" he challenged. His eyes flashed with anger as if he would want anything other than to be with Rosalie.
"You know what the issue is, right?"
"No I don't," he denied.
"Yes, you do, Em."
"No, I don't," he insisted stubbornly.
I sighed.
"She needs you to be around more," I explained patiently, for the umpteenth time.
"Funny way of showing it, telling me not to come home to Seattle," he huffed, stabbing at the ground beef.
"She does, because she needs you." I turned toward him, putting my hand on his shoulder. "Look, Emmett. You need to talk this out with her, but the biggest problem is you're gone. A lot. It was her biggest concern about a relationship with you from the very beginning. She told you this much. You know it's why she wasn't going to see you again after we'd met in New York; she wanted someone who'd be around for Henry. And now it's not only Henry, but Garrett and Vera, too. And you're gone as much as you've ever been. You're leaving her with all the work with the kids. That's not fair to her. Plus she feels alone. She doesn't feel like she has you."
"That's bullshit."
I glared, annoyed at his stubborn insistence to accept the problem.
"She has me. It's not like I'm screwing around on her," he persisted. "Besides, is it really that terrible to her that I like what I do?" He let out a huff. "I don't want to give it up."
"She's not asking you to."
He shot me a look in challenge.
"She isn't," I insisted. "She wouldn't ask you that and you know it. You just don't need to be doing it at 'Mach 2 with your hair on fire'," I added, quoting Top Gun.
"Don't try to cheer me up by quoting one of my favorite movies."
"Look, you have convinced her several times over that it'll work, and that you'll be there for her and the kids. It's about time you back that shit up," I said point-blank.
"Yeah, then she'll realize she doesn't really like me that much. And she'll be kicking me out because I'll drive her crazy being around all the time, bored out of my skull all day."
"Don't play that; you know how likable you are. And really? There isn't anything else in life you enjoy besides acting that you could do in-between to balance work and home life? Are you so one-dimensional, Emmett?"
"Yes, I am," he insisted, not wanting to concede my point.
I snorted.
"And here I used to think I liked you, Spinner girl," he said, resuming his savage stabbing of the ground beef.
Emmett had taken the first flight to Seattle that next morning. For that I was pretty proud of him.
"Damn that man," Rose said. "I swear he can get me to do anything when he's within eyesight of me. It's annoying. That's one of the reasons why I wanted him to stay in L.A.—so I could keep a clear head about this. And for him to know I'm serious that he needs to figure his shit out," she tacked on.
"What did he say to convince you?"
"He didn't have to say any damned thing at all," she said annoyed. "He just walked through the door." She rolled her eyes angrily at herself. "I thought it was hard trying to walk away from him that first time when we left New York. That was nothing! I don't know what's wrong with me."
"You love him. Nothing's wrong with you," I offered, rubbing baby Tia's back, listening to her tiny breaths. The chaos of the company throughout the house and yard drifted into the room in a remote and detached way.
She snorted, but then continued. "He promised he'd slow it down, and be around more, be more involved with our life instead of his separately." She shook her head dismissively.
"You don't believe him?"
"I believe he means it now, but then this great role will come along, and then this other one will follow… I've heard him tell me as much before. It's not long before he'll be gone all the time again."
"I think he really means it this time. I think he'll actually follow through."
"Yeah?" She laughed once without humor and cocked an eyebrow at me in challenge. "And what information do you have that tells you that?"
"When he was in L.A., he was over at my place practically every second I was home, talking to me about you and how to fix things," I explained. "It's taken him a while to get there—a lot longer than it should have," I added, because seriously. "But he knows this time's different. He knows if he doesn't do something he will lose you and he's completely terrified at the thought."
There was a beat of silence while she thought about it.
"I mean, I get he'll be gone some of the time. I do. I'm fine with it, really. It would be idiotic of me to believe otherwise," she added. "It's just he's gone for weeks and weeks, then just breezes in, says 'hi' to the kids, beds me thoroughly, then skips out of town again. He has all of the fun and none of the responsibility. It's exactly what I didn't want; I didn't want to do this alone. I wanted a life with him, not adjacent to him."
She sighed.
"I know," I told her. Then added, "Of course, he's honestly worried that when he is around all the time he'll annoy you and you'll discover you don't really like him. I'm not going to lie; I truly think that might be part of why he doesn't stick around."
"Idiot," she said, shaking her head as if he should know better than to think that.
I didn't reply, letting her have some time with her thoughts.
"Bell, you don't happen to know…" She took a breath, debating on whether or not she wanted to know the answer if it wasn't the one she wanted. Then she continued, because she's Rose, and she'd rather just know. "I know I don't have a right to know since I am the one who told him I needed a break from us for a while, but…do you know if he's been with anyone else while we've been apart?"
I shook my head, and she looked disappointed, thinking my shake of the head meant I didn't know, until I said, "No, he hasn't."
She eyed me shrewdly.
I shrugged. "That's what he told me."
She nodded. "I really want this to work," she confessed.
I smiled. "So does he."
Edward groaned in a weak protest a couple hours later and stepped behind me as I stood in front of the sink, placing a dirty plate in it. "Why did we invite our family over again?" he murmured. Disappointment that he didn't have me all alone wrapped around his every word.
"We miss them because we've been gone for the past six months." I giggled, loving the effect I had on him, even after years and a couple of children together.
Edward hummed in disapproval, hearing the chatter from the living room of Jess and Jake trying to get all of the kids to cooperate for a picture.
"They won't be here forever," I reminded him with anticipated promise and turned to kiss him, wrapping my arms around his neck.
He slid his arms around my waist and kissed me. Not quite serious but with the promise of possibility. I pushed onto my toes to deepen the kiss and Edward tightened his arms around my waist.
"Really?" Jacob's voice interrupted our moment.
Edward and I broke off the kiss and laughed as we slacked our hold on the other.
"Could one of you help us out here?" he asked.
I went in for another quick kiss and slid out of Edward's hold, then gave my brother an unapologetic shrug before we followed him to the cacophony in the living room.
After a few hours, my family began to file out.
Jess, Mike, and their kids were the first to leave. Jess was exhausted and stressed out following the puppy around, keeping him from chewing everything it shouldn't and not peeing or pooping in the house. Mike hadn't wanted to get the puppy in the first place so he wasn't much help with it. Riley, who was now ten, didn't have much interest in the puppy after finding out his older cousin, Henry, whom he idolized, was there and hung out with him the whole time. Their eight-year-old twins, Collin and Brady, had run off on some adventure in the woods behind the house, and came back a dirty mess. Jess and Mike's youngest, Bree, along with Carlie, who were the same age, were helpful for a while. But even a puppy could only hold interest for so long and they went off doing something else; Emmett and Rose's youngest, Vera, tagging along after them. Jess was far past ready to leave by the time they did.
I was glad that over the years she seemed to have at least gotten used to the fact that Anthony Cullen was her brother-in-law. It had been years since she had slipped and referred to him as Anthony, gushed, or gave him a fangirlish hug. Now she only acted her normal crazy around him. Though every once in a while, I did catch her eyeing him appreciatively, although I really couldn't hold that against her.
My parents were close behind out the door, having had most of the day with my kids. Jacob and Leah took the cue to leave too with Sam and Emily.
"Now I know this is difficult for you," Jacob teased me before heading out the door, placing his hands on my shoulders and looking seriously into my eyes. "But you still have guests. You're going to have to control yourselves."
I lightly smacked him on the shoulder and rolled my eyes.
"Do you think you can handle that?" he pressed. "At least keep it to a non-communal place of the house?"
"Shut up, Jacob," I retorted, as Edward laughed and wrapped his arms around me from behind.
"What?" he asked innocently. "I feel it's a legitimate question."
"Let's go, Jake," Leah told him. "I think you've harassed your sister enough today."
I flashed Leah a smile, which she returned.
"Hey, she started it," Jake insisted.
"Love you, you big jerk," I told him.
"Love you too, you spoiled little brat," he replied, wrapping me in a hug. "See ya, Edward," he added, and they headed out the door with the kids.
Rose and Emmett stuck around longer with Henry, Garrett, and Vera, but left for the place they had halfway between Forks and Port Angeles, Emmett wanting a place close to ours. Rosalie had taken a week of vacation, and they were staying there for the week before returning to Seattle. They left with promises of their return the next day when my friend Angela, her husband Ben, and their kids were going to come over to visit. We hadn't seen each other in a long time.
As I watched Rosalie and Emmett leave, I hoped Emmett got his crap together and they were able to work it out. They really were great together.
Esme and Carlisle were staying with us for a long weekend. The drive to Seattle was far too long to do in a day. They usually stayed with us at least a few days when they came to visit. Jasper and Alice and their daughters Sasha and Tia were also staying with us, but were staying for the week before they headed back to L.A.
That evening was more subdued but still full of laughter and conversations with our few remaining guests. The day was one of those so full of love—however chaotic and noisy, surrounded by those you truly love the most—that it seemed to recharge you, satisfying your soul.
Eventually, our guests headed to bed in the guesthouse, and Edward and I, after checking in on the kids asleep in their beds, went to our room.
"Now," Edward said, closing the door behind us, "where were we when we were so rudely interrupted earlier, love?"
"I think somewhere about here," I replied, unbuttoning his jeans.
He flashed my favorite crooked smile and we picked up where we'd left off, grateful for my life and all the little things that changed the entire course of it like one little trip.
Thank you for reading.
Thank you MC for your encouragement, support, enthusiasm, and help as my beta for this story. XO